"Useless!"
The sound of things being thrown at walls and shattering on the ground could be heard from inside the room. The two guards outside exchanged glances and stepped away from the door at once.
"B-Boss, we didn't--"
"Shut the fuck up! You fucking dickless womp rat! It's because of useless fuckin' bastards like you that that damn human is walking all over us!"
The messenger who had gone inside to tell Valemerin about the complete annihilation of their forces on the Ship Graveyard flinched and cowered.
Valemerin 'The Scourge' was famous for having a short temper. And right now, he was absolutely livid. Speaking up might result in losing his head.
Valemerin was a Faleen - they were common in this corner of the galaxy, having long since lost their home planet and drifted around the stars aimlessly.
He was also huge. At least 2,5 meters tall, with muscles like a brick wall, and a jagged scar running down the length of face, from his bald head to the underside of his chin.
He had gotten that scar the day he slaughtered an entire Tusken Raider tribe, down to the last man, woman, and child. He had done it because they killed his lover.
Ever since then, few dared to provoke The Scourge. And once Valemerin capitalized on the Hutt's hate for the Tusken Raiders to ingratiate himself with Grippa, the position of the Krayt Dragon Gang solidified in Mos Espa.
Until Valemerin got greedy. The Hutt Cartel pressed a 30% tax on all underworld businesses in Tatooine.
It was a lot. So it was no surprise some would try to undercut them, but the Hutts had a sure-proof method to deal with debtors.
It was called dragging them to Jabba. The leader of the entire Hutt Cartel was not a merciful slug. 99 times out of 100, it ended with the debtors fed to either a Sarlac or a Rancor.
Valemerin was the lucky 1 who lived to tell the tale. Not because Jabba was feeling particularly kind that day, but because he used half of the Krayt Dragon Gang's assets to bribe Grippa into speaking up for him.
It left Valemerin feeling humiliated, but at least he was alive. Still, there were consequences.
With half of everything gone, Valemerin suddenly had a much tougher time making ends meet. That resulted in many leaving the gang for greener pastures.
It was a vicious cycle. The less people he had under him, the less money he made, and the more people left.
And, of course, his rivals, the Makeh Syndicate and Agellum Gang, moved in like fucking vultures. Every day was a struggle of making sure his Krayt Dragon Gang didn't end up swallowed by them - and Valemerin himself dead in a ditch.
He was managing to do that, just barely, before that fucking human appeared.
For some reason, the human killed two of his subordinates. That was okay, they were nobody, and people died every day in Mos Espa. It probably wasn't even because they were members of his gang, they likely had just tried to shake down the wrong guy.
Except, the human seemed to have taken some major offense to that, because later that very same day, he broke into the Ship Graveyard and killed another one of his man.
By then, Valemerin knew he couldn't let go. Not only because he was fucking pissed some shitty human dared to touch his people, but also because if word got out a nobody like him was stepping all over the Krayt Dragon Gang, there wouldn't even be bones left of them by the end of the week.
So, Valemerin had sent Alo'Reme to hunt down the human. And that's when everything went downhill.
Alo'Reme and his entire group died in the Dune Sea - that was a painful blow for the already undermanned Krayt Dragon Gang. But then the human went and made a mess of one of the Tusken tribes, which had Grippa chortling and mocking Valemerin when they met.
And now, he was told the human had just killed every single one of the Krayt Dragon Gang members in the Graveyard, including the manager Palo'en, who was one of Valemerin's trusted subordinates, and then walked out brazen as all hell.
And he had threatened him!
That was the most unforgivable thing. The human had the balls to say he was coming after Valemerin and the rest of his Krayt Dragon Gang.
And he delivered. Damnit but he delivered! Not even an hour after receiving news of the destruction of the Graveyard, Valemerin was informed that one of his stash houses had been sacked, and the 4 gangsters guarding it killed.
How had the human even known about it!?
Palo'en. The Ortolan must have talked before being killed. Fucking snitch! And to think Valemerin had trusted him!
"Huff... Huff..."
Breathing heavily, Valemerin raised his gaze to the messenger who had been quietly shuddering amidst the broken remains of pretty much everything in the room. Not much had survived hsi fury.
"Call back everyone."
"B-Boss?"
"I said to call back everyone! The damn human is gonna keep attacking our bases, and we don't have enough people to protect all of them!"
Valemerin hated to admit it, but he had no other option. When the messenger left - dashed out of the room like he had just been pardoned, really - he sat back down on his chair, fists clenched.
"Two days. That human and Grippa and everyone else-- They will all be begging me on their knees in two days."
-----------------------
Rumor managed to torch two more of the Krayt Dragon Gang's secondary bases before the recall order went out to everyone.
When he arrived at the next location, it was to find it empty of all personnel and valuables. The tester pouted.
"They were faster than I expected."
He had known it would happen. He was counting on it, really. Having to pull back from their stash houses and other places they owned was going to be a really big hit to the Krayt Dragon Gang's reputation, and it would work in his favor later.
Even so, Rumor couldn't help but reflect on how much stronger he had become. Before, he would struggle against even one low-level thug if he had to face then head-on.
But now, even though his attributes remained largely unchanged, his equipment had undergone a qualitative leap. He had four new skills which just about tripled his combat prowess, and two traits and a title that were the cherry on top.
Now, raiding a gang hideout with 3 or 4 low-level thugs was no big ordeal to him. Oh, he was still careful, fully aware of his two biggest disadvantages: he was alone, and his HP was a dangerously low 100 points.
But he almost always managed to sneak up on at least one of the enemies and take them out before the others could react - or sometimes without them realizing at all. And the others, with a bit of trickery and underhanded tactics, were no big deal.
Rumor had no shame in stabbing someone in the back or slitting their throat while they were asleep. Regardless of how much stronger he had gotten, he was still just a weakling at the bottom rungs of The Mind. And the weak had their own way of fighting.
Shaking his head at the empty building before him, Rumor left. By now, most, if not all members of the Krayt Dragon Gang would be back at their main base, and he wasn't crazy enough to storm it.
But he didn't need to. His 'coversation' with the Graveyard manager had been very enlightening. Not only had he learned about how many people and bases the gang had - but he also knew Valemerin would be at the pod-race in two days.
Pod-racing was Tatooine's major sport and attraction. And the Mos Espa race was the biggest in the entire planet. Many key figures would be present, including some Rumor absolutely couldn't touch, like Jabba the Hutt.
But Valemerin had nowhere near enough influence to be in the same room as Jabba. No, he would be in another stand, reserved to the big factions of Mos Espa.
And it was there that he and Rumor would meet for the first time.
...
Qui-Gon Jinn woke up from his meditation to find Rumor waiting patiently for him.
Of course, the Jedi had sensed him long before. Rumor had an aura of death around him that he either didn't how, or didn't want to hide. Qui-Gon Jinn was leaning towards the former.
"Good evening."
"Good evening. You know, I introduced myself, but I don't think you ever told me your name."
Rumor knew who Qui-Gon Jinn was, obviously. But it would raise suspicion if he knew the Jedi's name without ever being told.
Qui-Gon Jinn stared at him, serene. Getting up from where he had been sitting cross-legged, he gestured for Rumor to follow.
"I am Qui-Gon Jinn, Jedi Master of the Republic."
"Somehow, I believe you."
Rumor walked besides Qui-Gon Jinn through the small courtyard of Anakin's home. Out the back, he could see the Chosen One himself, as well as Padmé, Jar Jar Binks, R2-D2, and Anakin's mother, as well as a couple of his friends, all either helping him fix his pod-racer, or watching from the sidelines.
"Will it be ready before the race?"
Rumor gestured to the vehicle with his head, and Qui-Gon Jinn hummed.
"I have faith in Anakin."
That wasn't what Rumor asked, but it was an answer nonetheless. The tester decided to keep his silence until Qui-Gon Jinn had led him to the balcony on the second floor of Anakin's home.
"I have a favor I want to ask."
"Another one?"
Sitting down on cushion, Rumor made a face at Qui-Gon Jinn, who ignored it and smiled.
"What we had before was a deal. A transaction, no more, no less. This is the one that leaves me owning you something, so you can stop being so smug about it."
This time, the Jedi chuckled, and bowed his head slightly.
"Fair enough. Go ahead."
Rumor scowled, but soon his expression returned to normal. Even a little... Remorseful.
"Alena. Look after her. I think she might have the potential to become one of you."
Qui-Gon Jinn raised an eyebrow.
"A Jedi? How can you tell?"
Qui-Gon Jinn had felt it, in the brief moments he spent with the girl. The hold of the Force on her was a lot weaker than Anakin's, so much she was almost eclipsed, but it was there. He was just curious how Rumor could feel it too, however.
The tester couldn't tell him it was because of the system's description, of course. Luckily, this was a world with lots of mysteries that couldn't be explained.
"I've seen a lot of incredible and unbelievable things. Alena feels like one of them. She was born a slave, tormented by the Tuskens for years, having to watch her mother be abused, beaten, and tortured. Sometimes bearing it herself. But she's still strong."
"You care for her."
Rumor scoffed, then shook his head with a rueful smile.
"I do, but not in the way you are probably thinking of."
He laid his head on the wall behind him, staring at nothing in particular.
"Alena reminds me a lot of myself. Her situation was worse than mine, but in many ways, they are similar."
Qui-Gon Jinn just listened patiently. Both times Rumor had approached him, he could feel the other man had hidden intentions. Even now, he still had. But that didn't mean he was telling falsehoods.
"My mother was a prostitute, and I never knew my father. She had almost nothing, and a baby was a huge burden. But she loved and cared for me anyway. That... It may seen like that's just how things should be to you, coming from such a prestigious place like the Jedi Order and the Republic. But where I grew up? That dump wasn't much better than Tatooine. I lost count of how many kids in my situation I've seen who were left to die in a random alley because their mothers either couldn't care for them, or just didn't want to."
Dozens, hundreds. The older ones sometimes survived, becoming street rats like Rumor. But the toddlers and younger children? Their cold corpses stayed in the trash until they rotted and the smell drove people to bury them.
"When I was 5, my mother got sick and died. Watching her waste away was the most painful experience I ever went through. But I was powerless to do anything but give her enough drugs that her last moments were relatively painless. And then I was on my own."
Those were painful memories even now, nearly 18 years after it happened.
"I grew up a street urchin. Sleeping on abandoned buildings, eating food from the trash, stealing from passersby, and running errands for gangs. Eventually I managed to carve a little slice of the pie for myself, and became something of an storyteller. Selling information to whoever would pay. Sometimes selling tales I shouldn't have."
He raised his left hand and the four fingers on it as an example. A tired smile took his face.
"Then things happened and I ended up here. That's my sob story. There are a trillion people in the galaxy with similar ones."
Rumor had never intended to make himself look like a victim. That was just the life he had lived.
"My point is, despite all the shit I went through, Alena's life would have been worse. One day Shala wouldn't be able to take her punishment anymore, and then, like me, Alena would have lost the only person in the world who loved her. That's why I care, and why I took them out of that place."
Qui-Gon Jinn was giving him his undivided attention now. After all, Jedi could do many incredible things, even read minds and see the future to a certain extent - but hearing about someone's past from their own mouths was far more impactful.
"It was a righteous thing to do."
Rumor snorted.
"I know. And I will take the credit for it. But I'm far from a good person, Jedi Master. I've stolen, harmed, and killed. Sometimes out of necessity. Sometimes because I just wanted to hurt someone. I have rarely had anyone's interests in mind but my own."
He paused and sighed.
"Even now it's the same. I've spent the day killing people. Not good people, but people nonetheless. On the day of the race, I plan on killing at least one more. And I don't see much in my future that isn't blood and death."
Qui-Gon Jinn said nothing. He agreed.
Rumor saw that and grinned, although there was no mirth in his eyes. Stretching, he got up, throwing one last glance to the group gathered below.
"Take care of them. Especially Alena. If she has the potential and wants to be a Jedi, please make it happen. If she doesn't, then make it so they land on their feet wherever they end up going."
[ Your relationship with main storyline character Qui-Gon Jinn has increased to Neutral (120/1.000). ]
Rumor waited for a few seconds, but no verbal response came from the Jedi. In the end, he just shook his head with a chuckle and left.
None of it mattered anyway. Qui-Gon Jinn was going to die soon, fighting Darth Maul in Naboo.
Maybe Obi-Wan would look after Alena like he would do for Anakin. Or maybe he wouldn't. Rumor probably would never know.
They were just fictional characters, NPCs created by The Mind. Whatever ended up happening to them, it didn't concern him beyond what he had already done.
...
Qui-Gon Jinn watched the retreating figure with little ripples to the calm lake that were his emotions.
He had met a lot of people in his life. Some were good, others were bad. Most, like Rumor, were in-between. He was just another name in a long list.
"Was that Rumor?"
Padmé climbed the stairs and stared at the direction the tester had disappeared. Her expression was slightly put out.
Ever since making that egregious accusation of calling Rumor a slaver, she had been feeling ashamed of herself. She wanted to apologize again, but hadn't had the chance.
"Why didn't he come greet us?"
If he was already here, he should have. That was just basic manners. But Qui-Gon Jinn shook his head.
"He doesn't belong. And he knows it."